


The Lodge

by Math_and_Lunacy



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:00:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27251596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Math_and_Lunacy/pseuds/Math_and_Lunacy
Summary: Just your cliché game of Truth or Drink, sponsored by Chloe. Set three years after the latest episode in the show. A calm night for a little bit of truth.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 7
Kudos: 183





	The Lodge

Icy wind was howling outside, but the thick wooden walls of the mountain lodge kept it at bay. It was an upscale place, lavish and warm, and Marinette was sitting by the fireplace in the lobby, roasting a marshmallow while her friends laughed loudly in the smaller room behind her. 

“Hurry it up, Dupain-Cheng!” called Chloe, her usual haughty tone only worsened by the fact that her father had gotten their class access to this lodge for the weekend, “We’re going to play a game. It’s called Truth or Drink.”

“You can start without me!” shouted Marinette, testing her marshmallow. It had a very faint light brown shell around most of the outside, but it could use another minute. “And anyway, I told you, I’m not drinking Chloe.”

“Ugh, you are so ridiculous.”

Marinette ignored her and carefully let her marshmallow roast a bit more. Once it had reached the perfect uniformly golden-brown coloring she liked best, Marinette removed it from the flame and let it cool. She glanced around to make sure nobody was looking, and then stuffed the sticky sweet into her purse.

“Oh wow, that is good,” whispered a voice from inside the bag.

“I told you,” said Marinette, grinning down at her little kwami. For three years she’d had Tikki as a near-constant companion, and yet it still amazed her that something so small and sweet could hold such unbelievable power. 

“I guess I’d better get back to the others. Are you alright in there?”

“Mhmm,” said the kwami.

Marinette stood up and walked to the other room. It was full of soft leather couches, the kind that you could really sink into. And on those couches, a number of people that Marinette had known for years were gathered together, talking, and holding drinks. Adrien Agreste, one of Marinette’s closest friends, moved his bag when he saw her come in and Marinette took the open spot on the couch between him and Alix. 

“Alright she’s back, can we get started now?” said Chloe, “Yes? Good. Now, as you all know, our lycee careers are coming to an end. In a few more months we’ll each be leaving, going off on our own ways to who-knows-where. Now’s our last chance to get things off our chests. And so, we’re going to play a little game called Truth or Drink.”

She stepped forward and put a fancy looking fabric box on the coffee table before them. 

“What’s this?” said Alya skeptically, “It looks like one of those pricey things you’ll try and arrest us for touching.”

“Ugh, that was one time,” said Chloe. She opened the box and revealed two fine looking crystal shot glasses. “Kim, the liquor?” 

Kim reached behind him and grabbed two tall bottles, one green and one brown.

“Dear lord, is that absinthe?” said Alya.

“And Golschlager,” said Kim, looking proud of himself. He grabbed a silver shaker tin and proceeded to mix the two liquors.

“What are you, a bartender?” said Chloe, “Whatever. Just pour the shots and I’ll explain the rules. We’ll go around in a circle, counterclockwise. When it’s your turn, you can ask any person in the room a question, but just one. They can choose to answer, or they can choose to drink. If they choose to drink, then you both have to take a shot. We play until the alcohol’s gone. Any questions?”

“One,” said Marinette, “What if we’re not drinking?”

“Yeah, same question,” said Adrien earnestly and Marinette gave him a smile. 

“Easy,” said Chloe, rolling her eyes, “Just answer the damn question if someone asks you. Now, if you’ll both stop being ridiculous, we can begin. I’ll go first. My question is for Juleka.”

“Uhhh,” said the girl, “Mimferumph.” Marinette always had a difficult time making out Juleka’s words, but the apprehension on her half-covered face was abundantly clear.

“My question is, Juleka, do you have feelings for Rose?”

Rose sucked in a breath and the whole room went quiet. “Chloe,” said Marinette furiously, feeling horrible for their shy friend. 

“If she doesn’t want to answer, she can drink,” said Chloe, crossing her arms.

Hand shaking a bit, Juleka pushed the hair out of her face and looked up at Rose. They both stared at each other for a moment and everyone else in the room looked on curiously. Finally, Juleka’s hand shot out and grabbed the shot glass. She downed it in one impressive gulp, coughed, and said in a shockingly clear voice, “Yes.”

“You—you do?” said Rose, stunned.

“That’s not how this works!” exclaimed Chloe, “You pick one, Truth OR Drink, not Truth AND Drink. I’m not drinking, she cheated!”

There was a mild uproar in response to this, and in the commotion, Juleka and Rose snuck out of the room to talk. Max was the one to notice and point it out.

“Are you happy now?” said Alix, “You’ve scared them off.”

“I helped them,” said Chloe, sounding annoyed.

“I’m not sure this game is such a good idea,” said Adrien, “What about Go Fish? We could play that instead. Does anyone have any cards?”

“No way,” said Kim, “It’s my turn. My question is for Alya. Before you broke up, did you and Nino ever…” he trailed off and made a vulgar motion with his hands. 

Alix smacked him upside the head.

Looking horribly embarrassed, Alya and Nino refused to look at one another. Without answering, Alya reached for the shot glass and swallowed everything in it in two gulps.

“Kim, I believe that means you drink too,” said Max helpfully.

“Oh fine,” he said, grabbing the glass, “I thought she might pull a Juleka and answer anyway.” He tilted his head back and downed the shot. He slammed the cup back down afterward with a loud, “Oh yeah!”

“Be careful!” hissed Chloe, “You’ll break the glass.”

Next up was Alix. Looking much too proud of herself, she said, “My question is for Lila.”

Smooshed between Alya and Sabrina on the couch across from them, Lila pushed her hair behind her ear and smiled demurely, “Ask me anything. I don’t have too many secrets.”

“No?” said Alix, “Well my question is about Ladybug.”

“Alix, you know I can’t reveal Ladybug’s secret identity,” said Lila, “If that’s your question, I’m warning you now, we’ll both be drinking.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not that,” said Alix, “It’s about something I noticed a couple of weeks ago. Remember when that akuma attacked the embassy? You were there to see your mom and Ladybug ended up having to rescue you.”

“If that’s your question, then my answer is: Yes, I do remember that.”

“Nice try, but no. My question is, if you and Ladybug are such good friends, as you like to claim, then why did Ladybug yell at you and say not to cause any more akumas? She said you were manipulative. Why would she say that if you two are friends?”

Everyone in the room had gone quiet again, this time looking back and forth between Lila and Alya. “You never told me that,” said Alya.

Tentatively, Lila reached for the glass which Kim had helpfully refilled. Marinette had the distinct impression that she was just trying to buy time. Telling the truth, that she was a manipulative girl who had intentionally caused an akuma attack, was clearly out of the question for Lila. But saying nothing wasn’t exactly an option either, not unless she wanted to directly call Alix a liar. 

Biting her lip, Lila put the shot glass down and looked up. Apparently she’d made a decision. “Can we make a pact that anything that gets revealed in this circle will never leave this room?”

Marinette sat back on the couch. She refrained from rolling her eyes only because she was so very unsurprised about what was about to happen. Lila was a liar, and Marinette did not like liars. But she had to admit, the girl was good at it. 

Marinette briefly made eye contact with Adrien and thought that his expression of disbelief had to be a mirror of her own. She took comfort in the fact that at least she wasn’t the only one that knew about Lila’s tendencies. 

“Yes, yes,” said Chloe impatiently, “Anything that gets said at the lodge, stays at the lodge. Happy?”

“Okay,” said Lila, sounding hesitant, “The truth is, Ladybug and I haven’t been on the best of terms lately.”

“Girl, why didn’t you say anything!” demanded Alya.

“Well, I guess I just didn’t want you guys to think less of her, you know? She’s a hero, and just because our friendship isn’t what it used to be, doesn’t mean that she’s any less heroic. She saves Paris all the time.”

Marinette crossed her arms and waited.

“What happened?” said Alya.

Looking horribly unsure of herself. (What an actress!) Lila leaned forward, covered her mouth and spoke between her fingers, “I kissed Chat Noir.”

“WHAT?!” said Marinette, jumping to her feet and for a moment completely forgetting that this was a lie. 

Lila’s eyes landed on her for the briefest instant. Something in them sparked, and then she continued, “Well, I suppose it was more the other way around. Chat kissed me. But I kissed him back. And I feel horrible about it! I didn’t realize Ladybug had feelings for Chat. She was always denying them!”

“Woah!” said Kim, “How was it? Did you use tongue?”

Alix smacked him upside the head again.

“Lila, why didn’t you tell me?” said Alya, “And when did this happen? It must have been really difficult for you to handle this on your own. I could have helped!”

Suddenly Lila started to cry, “It really has been!” Loud, fat, crocodile tears rolled down her face. Then she ran out of the room. Marinette wasn’t sure why she didn’t just apply to Paris School of Drama after lycee, she clearly had the talent.

Alya and Sabrina immediately took off after her. “Lila, wait!”

“That’s three more gone,” said Max, “Are you sure we should keep playing, Chloe?”

“Of course I’m sure,” snapped Chloe, “Now sit down Dupain-Cheng, Lila didn’t really kiss Chat Noir and we all know it. Let’s keep going. It’s your turn.”

“I don’t want to play,” said Marinette. 

“Just ask a stupid question. Honestly, it’s not that difficult. I’m sure there must be something you’ve been dying to find out before we all never see each other again.”

“Well there’s not,” said Marinette.

Chloe glared at her. “You have three seconds to ask a question or I’ll ask one for you. You won’t like it.”

“Ugh, fine. Adrien, my question is for you. How much do you hate this game?”

“A lot,” replied Adrien at once. “Marinette, my question is for you. What is your favorite color?”

Marinette snorted, thrilled that they were defeating Chloe together. “Gree—I mean, pink! Pink. Definitely pink!”

“Were you about to say green?” said Max.  
“Green like Chat Noir’s eyes,” said Kim loudly.

“Oh it’s so romantic!” said Mylene suddenly. She and Ivan had been pretty quiet all evening, but Mylene was up next and she decided to use her question on Marinette. “Are you in love with Chat Noir?” she asked, perfectly innocently.

“Why would you even ask that?” asked Marinette, stalling for time. 

“Wait, are you?” asked Nino, looking up from his phone. 

Was she? How was she even supposed to answer? Chat Noir was her partner, her handsome, kind, and terribly brave akuma-fighting partner. 

“I—I hardly even know him,” she said, and immediately looked down. Was that a lie? True, she didn’t know his name. But she knew a lot of other things about him. She knew he was allergic to feathers, and he liked to pretend he was the greatest thing to happen to womankind, even though he had a heart of gold. She knew he’d been in love with Ladybug once upon a time, but he’d eventually gotten over it. 

“That’s not an answer,” said Kim.

“Dupain-Cheng, please be serious,” said Chloe, “You’re not in love with that dorky, pun-making stray.”

“Hey!” said Adrien, “Chat Noir is cool!” A beat later, he turned to Marinette and said, “You know you don’t have to answer, right? It’s just a game. You don’t even have to drink.”

“I’m so sorry Marinette,” put in Mylene, looking upset, “I didn’t mean to ask you something so sensitive. I can ask you something else!”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Chloe, “You don’t need to ask her anything else because the answer is clearly No. Tell them Dupain-Cheng.”

“Why else would she have gotten so upset when Lila said she’d kissed him?” said Alix. 

“Because she so obviously lied, and Dupain-Cheng doesn’t like liars,” said Chloe.

“She didn’t mind lying to Adrien’s father to get Adrien out of Chinese lessons last week,” argued Alix.

“That was for a good cause!” said Nino.

“It’s still a lie,” said Alix, “Unless you’re telling me you really do know Mandarin all of a sudden, Marinette?”

“Okay fine!” said Marinette. She took a deep breath and said, “Fine. You got me. I’m in love with Chat Noir.”

Alya chose that moment to walk back into the room. “What?” she gasped.

“After all this time?” asked Adrien, sounding faint.

“What time,” demanded Alya, “Since when?”

Marinette shook her head and sat back, “Since… I don’t know. Maybe since the beginning?”

“But I thought—,” she cut off and looked meaningfully at Adrien.

“Yeah, me too,” said Marinette. She tucked her hair behind her ear and stood up. “I think I’m done for the night. I’m going to go hang out in my room. Chloe, do you have the key?”

“Oh no,” said Chloe, “You’re not going anywhere! We’re finishing this game.”

“You can hang out in my room,” said Adrien at once, pulling out his key, “You don’t mind, right Nino?”

“Go for it, bro,” he said.

“No, you’re not leaving!”

“Actually,” said Mylene, “Ivan and I were going to head out too. We want to go roast some marshmallows in the lobby.”

“You can’t!” said Chloe.

They got up, “Sorry Chloe.”

“You’re staying, right Nino?”

“Um, well, I was gonna talk to Alya for a bit, uh, that is, if you’d like to?” he said, looking only at Alya.

Alya considered. She gave one long look at Marinette and frowned. They weren’t as close as they’d been when they were younger, and Marinette suspected Alya was thinking about just as she, Marinette was thinking about it.

“Okay,” she said quietly. 

Nino looked hopeful, and he held out his hand. Alya grabbed it and the two of them left the room together. 

“That just leaves me, Chloe, Max, and Alix,” said Kim. He grabbed up his shaker can, “What do you say we four take this out to the hot tub on the back patio? I’ve always wanted to go swimming in a blizzard.”

“But what about Marinette and Adrien!” said Chloe.

“Let them go,” said Alix, “I’m sure they have a lot to talk about.”

“I don’t see what,” grumbled Chloe, “Unless he’s going to talk Marinette out of her horrible romantic choices.”

They filed out of the room and Alix shut the door behind them. Suddenly it was just Marinette and Adrien, sitting very close to one another on the couch. Marinette had the briefest moment to think about how her 14-year-old self would have keeled over in some sort of love-induced swoon in this situation.

Adrien immediately said, “So Chat Noir, huh?”

But before either of them could say anything else, a tiny black creature flew out of Adrien’s bag and said, “Finally! I thought they’d never leave.”

“Plagg!” they both shouted at the same time.

And then they looked at each other. 

Marinette froze, and that instant of time seemed to stretch out. There were thoughts whizzing away in her brain, but they were all tucked away deep. On the surface, she couldn’t seem to pinpoint anything, only a current of three names: Plagg, Chat Noir, Adrien, Plagg, Chat Noir, Adrien, Plagg… Chat… Adrien.

Marinette’s purse flipped open then and her own kwami floated up. “Plagg, what did we agree about not giving things away?”

“Puh-lease Tikki,” he said, unconcerned, “There’s no way they wouldn’t have figured it out by the end of the night. I’m just hurrying things along. I’m tired and I’d like some cheese. Also, I don’t know about you, but I didn’t want to spend the rest of the night stuck in a bag while these two talked.”

“Could you guys maybe give us a moment?” said Marinette.

“You can go up to the room,” put in Adrien, handing Plagg the key.  
“We don’t need room keys,” said Plagg contemptuously, “We’re miraculous beings, we can phase through solid matter.”

“Great,” said Adrien.

“Very dense solid matter,” added Plagg, “Much like both of your heads! Denser than comte cheese.”

“Plagg,” said Tikki, exasperated, “Let’s go.”

They phased through the door out into the lobby, and then once again it was just Marinette and Adrien, seated together on the couch, legs touching. 

“So, Chat Noir huh?” said Adrien.

Marinette put her head in her hands.

“I cannot believe I said that in front of you.”

Adrien, chuckled, “Hey, no need to be embarrassed. Would it make you feel better to know that I fell in love with you twice?”

“Twice?” said Marinette, confused.

“Uh here,” he said, handing Marinette his phone. The background was a picture of the two of them together, one that Alix had taken last week when they went to that Flora Nightingale concert instead of Adrien’s Mandarin lesson. He opened up his to-do list and Marinette read it curiously.

1\. Buy more camembert for Plagg.  
2\. Finish history project with Nino—look up King Louis XVI  
3\. Let Ladybug know you might take longer than usual to get there if an akuma attacks over the weekend  
4\. Tell Marinette you’re in love with her

Marinette inhaled sharply when she got to that fourth item. “You—you’re in love with me?”

Adrien grinned and knocked his shoulder against hers. “Yes. A lot.”

“But—but what about Ladybug?”

Adrien chuckled, “I think we both know how I feel about Ladybug.”

“I thought you were over her?”  
“Yeah, guess not.”

“Adrien, I—,” she paused and swiped her hair back behind her shoulder again, “I’m not over you either,” she admitted.

He smiled, “Yes, we established that.”

“No, I mean… well… it’s not just Chat.”

“Oh,” he said, and then his smile grew huge, “Oh really?”

Marinette nodded. Then she looked up and saw the smug look on Adrien’s face. He’d never looked more like Chat Noir than in that moment. She reached up and poked him in the chest, “Don’t you say it, kitty.”

“Say what, my lady?” he said, smirking, “Oh, you mean that I knew you’d fall for me eventually?”

“Yes, that!” said Marinette. Adrien laughed.

Then thoughtfully, he said, “But why did you turn me down all those times? You said you were in love with… with someone else. Who was it? Not Luka was it?”

Marinette didn’t answer.

He must have seen the embarrassment on her face, because he said, “Wait. Tell me you weren’t in love with… Oh my God, were you rejecting Chat because you were in love with Adrien?”


End file.
